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Raleigh, NC – The Pleasant Ridge & Ramsgate Community Watch, building a safe and informed family community, held Street Sweep 2009 on April 25, 2009, their annual neighborhood clean-up event. The group had volunteers, starting at 4-years old, deployed throughout the neighborhood logging over 20 service hours before temperatures started to creep into the low 90’s. The organization estimates that over 200 pounds of trash was collected. Several volunteers joked about items collected such as, various car parts (headlight, side mirror, and body parts), old, soggy newspapers, and lots of beer cans and bottles.
“The amount of cigarette butts seemed to be down this year,” said Pleasant Ridge & Ramsgate Community Watch President, Tabitha Groelle, “I’m surprised at how many people leave the Garner-Clayton paper in their driveway, unread, and decomposing – creating an eye sore for our community.”
The event organizer, Jason Hibbets, Pleasant Ridge & Ramsgate Community Watch Vice President was pleased with the outcome and hosted an afternoon cookout for the volunteers. “Not many people want to get up early on a Saturday morning to go pick up trash, but when it’s your neighborhood and no one else is going do it, you have some ownership and you feel good when it’s done.”
“I really enjoyed sweeping and eatin” said one volunteer during the lunchtime cookout the group held after the clean-up.
No butts about it, this annual event beautifies the neighborhood and creates ownership for our community. The group borrowed vests and grabbers from the City of Raleigh Community Services Department. The City of Raleigh Solid Waste Services Department will help the group collect the trash during normal solid waste pick-up.
About PRR-Watch
Pleasant Ridge & Ramsgate Community Watch is a non-profit, crime prevention organization composed of diverse neighbors in Raleigh, North Carolina focused on reducing neighborhood crime, increasing home and public safety awareness, and providing information related to crime, safety, and government. Visit prr-watch.org for more information.
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About: Jason: I'm a neighborhood advocate. I started off by getting involved in the Pleasant Ridge & Ramsgate Community Watch program and helped grow that organization. I saw an opportunity to unite other neighborhoods in our area with the Lineberry Alliance. I became chair of Raleigh's South West Citizen Advisory Council (SWCAC) in April 2010 along with vice chair Anthony McLeod and second vice chair Mary Belle Pate. I work with other neighborhood leaders in District D alongside City Councilor Thomas Crowder, on the District D Neighborhood Alliance (DDNA). I've completed Raleigh Neighborhood College (Spring 2005) and Leadership North Carolina (May 2007). In 2009, I lead a group of neighborhood volunteers to review Raleigh's 2030 Comprehensive Plan. I have a genuine interest in strong communities, fostering diversity, understanding the issues, and being transparent in my work. You can follow me on Twitter: @jhibbets |